Bargaining Chip
by Craic agus Ceol
Summary: Ben Gates said, "The Declaration of Independence is not a bargaining chip." Maybe so, but the rules change when your best friend's life is at stake.
1. Chapter 1

**Update 3/08: It's been quite a while since I've actually looked at this thing...honestly, though, it's probably my favorite fanfiction work to date. I decided to go through and make it adhere to regulations by deleting all review responses. Other than that, as of right now I'm leaving it in tact. I may revisit some grammar, but I think I'm much too in love with it "as is" (it's like my baby! If I had a baby, that is...). So, yeah. Thanks for the continuing support, guys! Seriously, I can't believe I'm STILL getting reviews on this! Believe me, it makes my day when someone tells me they love something I wrote...three years ago (It's been that long already! Gads!).**

**Oh, and there is no sequel. _Ransom_ is NOT the sequel. I wrote a sequel, once upon a time, and I was never entirely happy with it, so I ended up taking it off the site. I'm not going to write another, but thanks for asking anyway.**

A/n-OH MY CHEESE, HYPE'S IN A NEW FANDOM! That's right, folks. Hype's in a new fandom. As in, not writing LOTR for once. That was a complete waste of four sentences…Anyway, I was watching National Treasure for the four zillionth time when I had an idea. This is that idea put onto paper…er, Microsoft Word.

Disclaimer-I don't own National Treasure (though I keep Riley locked up in my closet. He's mine, I tell you, MINE! MWAHAHAHA—GAAK CHOKING COUGH COUGH! I swallowed my gum…) because I'm not intelligent enough to come up with all of the stupid riddles and stuff. I tried once, and I failed miserably. Trust me.

* * *

Ian Howe knew going to the Franklin Institute seemed like an absurd idea. He didn't have the Declaration of Independence, so chances were slim that he'd find "the key in Silence, undetected". However, that was not his plan. If he knew Ben Gates, which he did, the man would've already figured out how to read the map on the back of the Declaration. Ian guessed that whatever was there would lead to "the key in Silence, undetected". If Ben was looking for the Silence Dogood letters, chances were he'd be there. And Ian would be ready for him. His thoughts were interrupted as a grade-school kid bumped into him. 

"Oh, sorry sir. Excuse me," the boy said, before walking outside the building.

"It's OK," Ian said, after the boy. He smiled slightly. However, the boy was gone. Ian made his way to the letters, while his men dispersed around the room. If Ben was there, they'd find him. If Riley was there, they'd find him. If neither of them were there, he'd wait an hour or so before assuming that Ben had beaten him again. As Ian turned to look at several more of the letters, he noticed the boy from before with a very studious look on his face. Ian frowned. The boy looked as if he was counting the letters…wait. What if Ben or Riley had the boy do the work for them? It would be suspicious if a grown man was standing there counting letters on the papers. Besides, Ben was a wanted man now; showing up at a political building could get him arrested, or at least put the FBI closer on his trail.

Ian waited for the boy to be done counting. As before, the child raced outside. Ian followed him, and his men, noticing the action, followed suit. The boy dashed across the street just as Ian and company exited the building. He waited for a moment as a bus pulled across the crosswalk, and smiled to himself. He had guessed correctly. The boy was talking to a young man holding a newspaper. Riley.

* * *

Whether being paranoid or practical, Riley had decided not to go in to the Franklin Institute and find the letters corresponding to the Ottendorf Cipher. As Ben had used his credit card to pay for the Declaration of Independence and the replica they had passed off to Ian a few days ago, he was sure that either the receptionist would be on the lookout for him, Ben, and/or Abigail, or would be able to pick him out if the FBI came around with a picture. But if he didn't go in to find the letters, how would he find the next clue? The answer came to him as a schoolboy walked along the sidewalk near where he was sitting. 

"Hey!" Riley called to the boy. He stopped, and looked curiously at Riley, "Come here!" the boy hesitated, and came a few feet closer, "Here, I want you to do something for me. Take this post-it note," he quickly scribbled a grid onto the note for the first four letters in the clue, "Go into the Institute, and find these letters on the Silence Dogood letters. You know what those are, right?" The boy nodded, but didn't take the post-it note.

"I'll do it if you give me a dollar," the boy said, grinning suddenly. Riley rolled his eyes and rifled through his wallet. He retrieved a pencil and a dollar.

"See, the first letter is the page number, the second is the line on the page, and the third is the letter in the line. Think you can do that?" he asked. The boy nodded, "I've got a lot of these. If you do this one right, I'll give you another one for another dollar. Ok?" Riley asked. The boy nodded again, and dashed across the street into the Franklin Institute. Riley rifled through his pocket to make sure he'd have enough dollars to supply the kid. After all, what was a few dollars if you were looking for the greatest treasure in the world?

It wasn't long before the boy came running back, and handed Riley the post-it.

"T, H, E, V," the boy said triumphantly. Riley wrote it down on the newspaper he had recently bought. He handed the boy the next post-it and another dollar. In this manner, it wasn't long before Riley had nearly the entire message.

"The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of pass and…pass and what?" he mused to himself. He knew that Ben or Abigail would probably know and would be off back to the store by now. However, they were too busy becoming inconspicuous, and Ben had insisted on getting the next clue as soon as possible. Riley looked up, musing as to what the final four letters would be. His eyes chanced on the bus. No luck there, just an advertisement for some tour or another at Independence Hall. He grinned as he saw the boy dashing across the street, once again miraculously not being hit by a car.

"The last letters are S, T, O, W," the boy said, triumphantly. Riley wrote that on his newspaper, and put it down as he rummaged through his pocket and produced a five.

"For your trouble," Riley said, grinning.

"Thank you," the boy said, returning the smile as he took the five-dollar bill and pocketed it. He had made $27 in all, enough to buy a few comic books. As the boy walked off, Riley stood up and turned to collect his newspaper when a voice he hoped he wouldn't hear drifted past his ears.

"Hello, Riley. Remember me?"


	2. Chapter 2

A/n-SQUEEE LOTS OF REVIEWS! I apologize for the short chapters, but I'm leading up to a nice bundle of…well, I'm not going to tell you. I'll let you all sweat it out! MWAHAHAHAHA! Left everyone with a nice cliffie there, didn't I? I'm quite proud of it…I honestly didn't know that there was so many Riley fans out there!

Disclaimer-Evil laughter is fun! I still don't own National Treasure because despite the fact I'm a 4.0 GPA sophomore (well, sophomore once school starts…) I couldn't have come up with the complex storyline in the movie. All I own is the DVD. Oh, and Riley who's tied up in my closet (with all of my LOTR elf clones. How does he stand it?).

PS-I'm worried about getting Ben and Abi in cannon. If they're a little OOC (or a lot OOC), please don't bite my head off…

* * *

"He should've been back by now," Abigail said, her voice heavily lacquered in worry. They had been sitting in front of the Urban Outfitters for nearly 45 minutes, waiting for Riley to return from the Franklin Institute with the next clue. So far, he was yet to show.

"I know," Ben muttered, his face creased in worry. Riley should've been back nearly an hour ago. He had a good idea what might've happened to his friend, but he hoped that for Riley's sake he was wrong. Unfortunately, Ben was not often wrong.

"Should we go look for him? Maybe he got lost?" Abigail mused. Ben stood.

"We're going to the Franklin Institute," Ben said. He hopped in the car, and motioned Abigail to follow. He pulled out of the parking spot, hoping fiercely that when they arrived at the Franklin Institute, they would find the young man puzzling over the last clue, having lost track of time.

They had no such luck. After arriving, Ben and Abigail searched the entire place, and most of the surrounding outdoors, also. There was no sign of Riley.

"Where could he have gone?" Abigail asked Ben, as they sat on one of the benches across from the Institute.

"I don't think he voluntarily went anywhere," Ben said grimly, "Ian's no fool. He probably found out about the Silence Dogood letters. I think Riley was in the wrong place at the wrong time,"

"Now what?" Abigail asked, worriedly.

"We could find out the Ottendorf Cipher while we're here. I'm sure Ian has it already if he's got Riley," Ben looked up. There was something on the next bench from theirs: a pad of graph paper, a set of Post-it notes, a newspaper, a few other odd pads and such. It looked as if someone was going to return. That was odd; there were few other people in the park. Maybe they had been left there…? Ben stood up, walked to the bench, and began rifling through the objects.

"Ben, that's somebody else's stuff! What are you doing?" Abigail demanded. Ben held up one of the Post-it notes. It had a grid containing the four codes from the Ottendorf Cipher and the four corresponding letters on it.

"This isn't somebody else's stuff. It's Riley's," Ben said, grimly. He picked up the newspaper, and was surprised to find writing along the outer edges of the reverse side.

"The vision to see the treasured past comes when the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of pass and stow," he read, "That's got to be the next clue!"

"Then Ian didn't get it," Abigail said, "But he still has Riley. And I bet I know where Ian's going to turn up next," Ben nodded. They were off to Independence Hall.

* * *

Earlier… 

"Hello, Riley, remember me?" Riley stopped in shock, abandoning the newspaper. He turned slowly to face Ian and several other members of their old group.

"Ian," Riley said, trying to stop from shaking. This man had nearly killed Ben and him on the Charlotte, broke into the National Archives only to lose the Declaration to Ben (it didn't stop him from shooting, however). Riley didn't want to end up dead, and he knew that Ian would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. It was one of the reasons Ben had asked Ian to volunteer to find the treasure in the first place.

"I see Ben was right; he did know something I didn't know back on the Charlotte," Ian said, smiling slightly, "And he still had something I didn't. The map. Tell me the next clue, Riley, and I'll let you go," Riley forbade his eyes to flicker to the newspaper. He bit his lip and shook his head. He heard the click of somebody pulling the hammer of the gun, and was only slightly surprised to see one pointed at his chest. Riley began to tremble, "Pity, Riley, pity. Now, get in the car," he said, gesturing to a SUV parked not to far away. Riley obediently walked to the car. None the less, as soon as he turned, Ian pushed the gun into his back. Riley could feel the cold muzzle of the gun through his shirt, and he trembled harder. This wasn't the same as Shaw pointing the gun at him in the Charlotte; he knew Ben wouldn't have let them shoot him. This wasn't the same as being shot at in his van, as he was an excellent driver and could evade the gunman's line of sight. Having a gun pressed up against the small of his back, knowing that with a slip of a finger, he would be dead…there was no comparison.

Upon reaching the SUV, Riley stopped, closing his eyes. He rubbed his hands, trying to get them to stop trembling before he reached for the car door. He never had the chance as Ian brought the butt of the gun to his temple and he collapsed to the sidewalk, unconscious.

* * *

Upon reaching Independence Hall, Ben turned to Abigail, "You wouldn't happen to have a hundred, would you?" Ben asked. Abigail stared at him, perplexed.

"I think we have one of your dads left," she said, pulling one out. Ben flipped it over, revealing the picture of Independence Hall on the back of the bill. He looked around, and upon spotting a young woman holding a water bottle he strode over to her, a confused Abigail in tow.

"Excuse me, can I borrow that for a moment?" Ben asked the woman, pointing to her water bottle. She nodded slowly, handing it to him. He showed the bill to Abigail.

"See, this picture is a replica of a painting done by an artist who was a friend of Benjamin Franklin," he said, using the water bottle as a magnifier to read the time on the clock, "Thus, the clock should point out the time when the shadow crosses over the house of pass and stow," Abigail nodded, realization hitting her. The young woman shook her head, obviously thinking that the two of them were insane.

"What time?" Abigail asked, peering over Ben's shoulder.

"2:22," he said, slowly.

"What time is it?" Abigail asked, looking at Ben's watch.

"About 3:10," the young woman said, cautiously.

"We missed it," Ben said, glumly.

"What do we do, wait until tomorrow?" Abigail asked.

"No. If Ian has Riley, he may also know the clue. Ian's smart; it won't take him long to figure out that he has to go to Independence Hall. We have to beat him to whatever it is we're trying to find here," He handed the woman her water bottle back, and she gave a small thanks and left almost insultingly fast. However, Ben and Abigail didn't notice.

"Then we should go up there," Abigail pointed to the tower where the Centennial Bell was hanging, "And see if we can at least guess at where this thing is hidden," Ben nodded, having obviously been thinking the same thing. Suddenly they were interrupted by the muffled jingling of a cell phone. Ben reached into his pocket, having forgotten he'd had it. He looked at the incoming call.

"It's Ian," he said, looking meaningfully at Abigail. Ben answered the phone, "Ian,"

"Ben," was the reply, "A little bird told me that you have the next clue. I have a proposition. Let me have the clue. We don't have to be rivals, Ben. I know for a fact that there's at least one person who'll benefit greatly from our partnership,"

"What did you do with Riley, Ian?" Ben demanded. Abigail gave a worried glance, wondering what the conversation could possibly be about. Surely, Ian was trying to weasel his way into getting the treasure, and was probably going to use Riley to do so.

Ian continued as if Ben had never spoken, "I know you're at Independence Hall. I suggest you stay there for a bit. You may have some visitors," The line went dead. Ben looked at Abigail with a grim expression on his face.

"We need that next clue, Abigail, and we need it now," he said, and took off running towards Independence Hall.

* * *

Just another post script: Yes, the store that Ben and Abi are shopping at is called "Urban Outfitters", and yes, I'm sure that Ben has a cell phone. When Ben is arrested in the movie and Ian calls him on the cell phone, I'm assuming the phone is Ben's. Thus, Ben does have a cell phone. The end of the post script. PLEASE REVIEW, CHAPS AND CHAPETTES!


	3. Chapter 3

A/n-Wow, 41 reviews! I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF! I must re-state myself: I honestly didn't know how many Riley fans there were out there! Thus, I must update fast or I will be hunted down (considering two of you know where I live…_cough_ Rhia _cough _sierranevadas _cough_…) ANYWAY, everyone enjoy chapter 3!

Disclaimer-All I own is the woman in chapter 2 with the water bottle! Go me! Oh, and Riley. I've let him out of the closet, and granted him visitation rights from faithful reviewers. As long as you don't try to smuggle him out…

* * *

Riley moaned as he drifted back towards consciousness. _What happened?_ He wondered groggily. One second he was at the Franklin Institute bribing some kid to complete the Ottendorf Cipher, the next moment he was—Riley's eyes snapped open. Ian! Ian had been at the Franklin Institute! He tried to move, but realized soon enough that he was tied to a chair.

"So you're awake," a gruff voice nearby said. Riley recognized that voice. It was another of the mutineers from the Charlotte Expedition.

"Shaw," Riley acknowledged, blinking a few times to get his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the room.

"So, Riley, find out the next clue?" Shaw asked, assuming Riley's intentions at the Franklin Institute.

"Maybe," Riley said, "But I don't think kidnapping me will get me to tell it to you,"

"You're in a bit of a dangerous situation to be mouthing off, Riley," Shaw snarled, "If it wasn't for Ben, I would've shot you on the Charlotte," Riley gulped nervously. Shaw was completely devoted to Ian, and was completely fearless. It was also apparent, after the incident on the Charlotte, that Shaw was also ruthless.

"You wouldn't dare do anything to me!" Riley cried, uncertainly. He was the only one who knew the clue from the Silence Dogood letters, which was a fairly good insurance considering that only Ben and Abigail had the Ottendorf Cipher. Shaw, however, didn't buy it. He took a step towards Riley, drawing back a fist.

"Try me," he growled angrily.

"You wouldn't hit a man in glasses!" Riley squeaked, knowing that if he didn't act fast, he'd end up with a fist in his face. Shaw halted mid-punch.

"You're right," Shaw said, uncertainly, "But I can fix that," Shaw snatched the glasses of Riley's face, snapped them, and tossed them into a corner, "Now, where were we?" For once, Riley didn't have a witty comeback.

"I remember. What's the next clue, Riley?" Shaw demanded.

"There isn't one," Riley said, "You caught me before I could figure it out," _That's a good bluff,_ Riley thought, very proud of himself.

"Then why were you ready to leave?" Shaw asked. Riley's face fell. He hadn't thought of Shaw as "the smart one", but the older man was calling all of Riley's bluffs. Ian was definitely sure that Riley had the next clue.

"Because I couldn't find it?" Riley asked, now unsure of himself. Shaw scowled darkly, and this time there was nothing Riley could do to keep Shaw from giving him a black eye. The force of the punch nearly knocked the chair over, and for the second time in the past few hours, Riley was rendered unconscious. However, it was at this moment that Ian chose to enter the room.

"Did he wake up?" Ian asked his second-hand man, who nodded, "Did you get the second clue from him?" Shaw shook his head, "No matter. We're going to Independence Hall. And he's coming with us," Shaw knew better than to question Ian's motives, but he had a good idea why they were going to Philadelphia.

* * *

Ben and Abigail looked down from the bell tower of Independence Hall, trying to figure out where the shadow of the tower would be at about 2:22.

"The shadow's along that brick wall now," Ben said, "So about an hour ago it'd be…there," he said pointing to the roof. Abigail nodded, "I'll go down and look, you go down to the Signing Room and wait for me," Abigail, however, did not agree to this.

"We're only making a rough estimate. I'm going to help you," Abigail said. Ben sighed, but consented. Her suggestion was logical, at any rate.

The two of them arrived at the roof, and immediately began scanning for any marking that would suggest something was hidden there, "How can something be hidden on the roof?" Abigail asked, "It would've been found by now, wouldn't it?" Once again, Ben had to agree.

"But if it's not here, where is it?" he asked, unintentionally thinking aloud. He looked over to the wall, "You don't think…" it was at this moment that the realization hit him. He remembered Riley saying once that daylight savings time wasn't established until World War I, "If it's 3:22 now…" Ben began, walking towards the wall. Abigail followed curiously, "Than in 1776, it would be 2:22. Abigail, it's here!" he said, pointing to where the "timely shadow" crossed in front of Independence Hall. He searched the bricks for a moment before stopping. One brick had a Templar symbol on it.

"I don't believe it," Abigail said, "Daylight Savings Time," Ben drew his pocketknife and worked around the mortar until he could draw the brick out. He looked into the hole, Abigail excitedly peering over his shoulder. There was nothing there. He sighed disappointedly.

"Ben!" Abigail cried, pointing to the brick. It was hollow, and inside the compartment was what appeared to be an odd form of glasses.

"The vision to see the treasured past?" Ben asked, smiling. He carefully put the brick back, as to not draw suspicion, and the two of them headed back towards the bell tower and the Signing Room.

Once inside the Signing Room, Ben opened the case and withdrew the Declaration of Independence. He and Abigail unrolled it and flipped it over. Before putting on the glasses, however, Ben had to pause.

"What's wrong?" Abigail asked, eager to find the next clue.

"It's just that…the last time this was here, it was being signed," he said, softly.

"Ben, Ian could be here any minute. We need the next clue," Abigail replied, also softening her voice.

"Right," Ben said, snapping back to the present. He put on the glasses and gasped. There was an entire holographic scheme of Templar symbols and four words.

"What does it say?" Abigail asked, eagerly.

"It says "Heere at the Wall", with two Es," Ben replied, handing Abigail the glasses.

"Wow," Abigail said, almost speechless. She had handled the document many times, but had never imagined that there was something this amazing on the back. Ben glanced up through the window, but was only mildly surprised to see Powell and Phil wandering around outside.

"Ian's here," Ben said, softly. The two of them carefully re-rolled the Declaration, and Ben put it back in the case, "You keep those. If Ian doesn't know that we have the next clue, than maybe we can get Riley back without giving it to him," Abigail nodded, her face expressionless. The two left the building, hoping that Ian, and Riley, would be nearby. They didn't have to wait long, for nearly instantaneously they were met by Ian Howe himself, with Shaw in tow.

"Hello, Ben," Ian said, smiling, "I see you've been working on your clues. Your social life too, I see," Ian added, glancing at Abigail, who scowled in return.

"Ian, what did you do to Riley?" Ben demanded.

"I didn't do anything," Ian said, smiling humorlessly. Ben and Abigail didn't believe him for a second.

"We know you kidnapped him," Abigail said in indignation, stepping forward, "And if you ever want to go any farther in finding the treasure, and get a lighter jail sentence, I suggest you let him go!" Her cheeks were flushed in fury, and her eyes snapped angrily.

"Dr. Chase," Ian said, turning to her, "This is America. Everything is run by capitalism. I need to make a profit, and I can't do that by simply giving you what you want. You need to run a trade. We both have rather important bargaining chips that could save our lives if the FBI catches up with us, and I'm not going to give up mine just because you say so," Abigail was speechless at the hostility of the man, but she could see that his plan was logical, if not brilliant. However, she knew that it did not bode well for Riley or the Declaration of Independence.

"A human life is not a bargaining chip!" Ben protested. Riley was one of his closest friends, and it hurt him to see Ian use the younger man as he was.

"And, I suppose, neither is the Declaration of Independence. Which is why this is the perfect trade, Ben," Ian's cajoling voice had a mocking tone to it that infuriated Ben and Abigail. However, there was nothing Ben could do. Although finding the treasure meant a lot to him, Riley's life meant more.

"Ian…" Ben began, desperately trying to find a better way out of the "trade".

"Ben, as you stall, your friend's chance of life lessens. It wasn't my idea, but there was no more room in the car. I suppose you can thank Shaw, if you see him again. Make your choice now, Ben, before it's too late," Ian said, carelessly. Ben looked at Ian in shock. He hadn't thought Ian was capable of killing. Things had taken a turn for the worst in the space of four sentences.

"What did you do?" Abigail demanded. Both men ignored her as Ben wordlessly handed Ian the case holding the Deceleration. Ian smiled as he opened the leather exterior, pulled out the plastic one, and checked for the document. He shouldered the container, and handed Ben a set of car keys.

"Good luck," he said, smiling as he turned and left.

"Wait, Ian! Where…what…" Ben began, but Ian had left with Shaw, Powell, and Phil in tow.

"We have to find the car," Abigail said, the angry flush in her cheeks having given way to the pale tone of fear.

"I have to admit, that's fairly easy," Ben said, noting that the automatic door locker had been left on the key ring. He hit the "alarm" button, and somewhere, the angry screaming of a car alarm began, "That's our car," Ben added, pointing in the general direction of the cacophony. Wasting no time, the two of them dashed down the street toward the car where their friend was being held hostage.

Luckily, it wasn't long before they reached the honking car. Ben smiled in spite of himself, deciding that Ian (or Shaw, depending on if Ian had lied earlier or not) hadn't intended for them to find the car so fast. Abigail was already peering in the windows, quickly checking if anyone was tied up on the floor or ready to open the door and point a gun at them.

"There's nobody in there," Abigail said shakily, "No Riley or anyone else,"

"Do you think Ian would put him in the front where someone might see him?" Ben asked, opening the door and groping for the handle to open the trunk, "He may not be smart enough to take of the automatic door-opener, but he's smart enough to think of that," Abigail gulped. She had heard stories of people suffocating in the trunk of a car, and what Ian had said earlier about stalling took on a new meaning.

Ben smiled in spite of himself as he found the handle, and it gave a click as he pulled it and the trunk popped open. Abigail, who was closer, rushed to the boot and hefted the lid up. She gave a startled cry upon looking in, alerting Ben.

"Riley!"

* * *

Oooh, I'm an evil git to leave it there! I LOVE THE CLIFFHANGERS! I guess I'm getting revenge on all of you evil cliffhanger writers out there…anyway, please review! Depending on how many of you review, we'll see if I actually killed our favorite comic relief (Abigail didn't seem too happy there, did she…heh heh heh…)! 


	4. Chapter 4

A/n-Well, I knew this would happen. I would get so many angry reviews saying I was evil for the stuff I did to poor Riley that I would have to IMMEDIATELY post the next chapter to dispel these rumors. Not like you guys are complaining, I note :-) This is a very short chapter, I'm terribly sorry. The next one will be much longer, I PROMISE! It's just that school starts very soon (the sixteenth) for me and I have some stuff I have to do before I go back.

Disclaimer-Blah blah blah don't own National Treasure blah blah blah…

* * *

"Riley!" Abigail cried, horror lacing her voice. Ben's heart leapt into his throat. Instantly his head was filled with visions of his young friend bruised and bloody, lying in the trunk dead. Snapping out of the horrible thought, he dashed to the trunk where Abigail was standing, obviously in shock. Ben cast a worried eye on her before turning to the trunk. 

He could barely keep a gasp of horror out of his voice. Riley was curled up in the trunk, bound, gagged, and unconscious. His hair was matted with dried blood, and his right eye was sporting a rather impressive shiner. However, the young man was breathing, albeit harshly, and Ben and Abigail subconsciously relaxed.

"He's alive," Ben said, relief evident in his voice. He bent over the unconscious man and worked the gag off, and Abigail worked on the ropes around his wrists. Then Ben carefully picked him up and laid him down on the sidewalk.

"C'mon, Riley, wake up," Ben said gently, shaking Riley's shoulders. Riley moaned and his eyelids fluttered.

"Ben?" Riley asked, his voice raspy.

"Yeah, it's me," Ben said, relieved that Riley appeared all right. He gently pulled the younger man into a sitting position. Riley, noting the unspoken question in Ben and Abigail's eyes, sighed.

"Ian found me at the Franklin Institute. Somehow he guessed about the Silence Dogood letters. I didn't tell him the next clue," Riley said softly. He looked at Ben and Abigail, "Did you find it?"

"The next clue?" Abigail asked, grinning slightly, "Thanks to you,"

"It was at Independence Hall. The House of Pass and Stow. It was a…ocular device. It showed the encryption on the back of the Declaration of Independence," Ben said. He pulled the glasses out of his pocket and showed them to Riley.

"And the treasure?" Riley asked, expectation shining in his eyes.

"No, but we have another clue. Speaking of which," he looked at the car, "Thanks to Ian, we have a car that the FBI isn't looking for. We need to get to Trinity Church," Ben and Abigail together helped Riley up and into the back seat of the car, where he immediately adopted a comfortable position not unlike that in Patrick's stolen car.

"And I thought your dad's car smelt funny," Riley said, grinning lightly. Ben couldn't help but smile to himself as he started the ignition and pulled onto the street. It was nice to have Riley back.

* * *

Ian was furious. Using the Declaration, he had found the Ottendorf Cipher and completed it with the Silence Dogood letters, and he now knew why Ben and Dr. Chase were at Independence Hall. Shaw was driving him to Independence Hall, and two of the other men were in a following car. 

"I'm surprised that Ben handed over the Declaration for Riley. I thought the only use the kid had was tracking the Charlotte," Shaw was saying, musing more to himself than to Ian. He knew that Ian was quite unhappy, and Shaw could understand why. It was almost certain that whatever could be found at Independence Hall had already been found, and they could only guess at where the next clue could be.

"Wait. What if Ben still needs the Declaration? What if whatever he found wasn't enough? He wouldn't admit it to us if I called him, but…" Ian thought hard. He had gotten the Declaration through Riley, but how could he get any closer to the treasure without the clue from Independence Hall? There was no way he could get at Riley again, or Dr. Chase for that matter. He didn't even know where they were. Sure, he could call Ben again, but he had to have something to use…the idea hit him like a train. Shaw could almost see the lightbulb appear over Ian's head.

"Shaw, go towards Washington D.C., and step on it!" Ian said. The men in the car behind him were probably puzzled by the maneuver, but they followed regardless. Ian was very proud of himself for thinking of his new plan, the plan that would definitely secure for him the treasure.

* * *

See how unimaginably short that is? I got to a good stopping point, and that's all I have to say. As you can guess, the next chapter's going to be quite long, involving stuff much closer to the movie plot line. Mostly. Kind of. And for the sake of Riley-angst…oh, never mind. I'll let you get there in the next chapter! 

Review, peeps, and the longer chapter will come! A point for whomever guesses Ian's grandiose plan!


	5. Chapter 5

A/n-That was a nasty piece of writer's block, I'm telling you. Thankfully, it didn't last very long, but I couldn't come up with a single idea where to go from the last chapter. Ick. As if to pile it on, school and water polo started, which means that I have nightly Spanish, Geometry, and whatever-the-hell-else-the-teachers-decide-to-throw-at-us homework ON TOP OF water polo practice. Thus, excuse the slow updates…

Disclaimer-All I own is the woman with the water bottle and the insane plot line!

PS-**sarahofearth **and **MagRowan **get a point for guessing Ian's plot, but as you will soon see…bah, go read it yourself before I give it away!

PPS-I know some of the timelines are unrealistic, but I live on the West Coast and have never been to Philadelphia or Washington D.C. Remember, its called fanFICTION not fanFACT

MAJOR NOTE FOR MOVIE FREAKS LIKE ME- I based this chapter more on the "Extended Shaft Sequence" in the Deleted Scenes on the DVD, simply because I think it contained more action and exciting bits. But I put my unique twist on things, as you'll see at the beginning of this chapter…enjoy, _mis amigos, _enjoy!

* * *

Ian was grumpy the entire car ride back from Washington D.C. and as they drove around Philadelphia hoping that inspiration would strike. Driving there had been a complete and utter waste of his time. Chances were, by now Ben would've figured out the next three clues without the Declaration. He knew he shouldn't have handed Riley over so quickly. The Declaration was no help without whatever Ben had found at Independence Hall. Shaw, who was driving once again, noted Ian's silent fury, and knew that the anger was directed toward himself.

"Who would've known that Patrick Gates would be in Boston for the next few days for a convention of something-or-other?" Shaw said, but the look that Ian gave him instantly shut him up. It had been an excellent plan from the get-go; kidnap Ben's father and use him to their even greater advantage than they had used Riley. Unfortunately for them, Patrick had left town for some convention or other. The house sitter had been very vague.

Little did Ian and co. know that the house sitter was really an FBI agent, and Patrick was at the FBI headquarters, answering question upon question about Ben, Ben's closest friends, why they would steal the Declaration, etc. The FBI agent had been stationed at the house in case Ben foolishly returned. Truly, they did not expect an intelligent man such as Ben Gates to go to the first person the FBI would hunt down, but they did so all the same. The appearance of a several men at Patrick's house had been suspicious, but the FBI agent there considered it a coincidence. Probably some of the senior Gates' friends coming for a poker night. His colleagues had other things to worry about, such as the disappearance of Dr. Abigail Chase and one of Ben's closest friends, a Mr. Riley Poole, suspiciously at the time that Ben Gates stole the Declaration. It would be a major lead for the FBI if they could link the doctor and the young man to Benjamin Gates, a major lead indeed.

As they drove past Trinity Church, Ian blinked. One of the cars parked outside was very familiar… "Shaw!" Ian cried, his anger dissipating, "Stop the car!" Shaw very well couldn't stop in the middle of Broadway, so he cruised looking for a parking spot for several moments before Ian could fully investigate the car. Yes, it was the one that he'd left Riley in. A growl of anger rumbled in his head, but he ignored the voice telling him that he should've kept the younger man longer. He knew how to get to Ben now. It was a stroke of luck finding him at Trinity Church. He and Shaw were soon joined by the rest of the crew, "I think it's time we find a treasure, boys," Ian said, and stormed into the church.

* * *

Ben and Abigail had tried to leave Riley in the car, but the young man would have none of it. He insisted that his injuries were superficial and that he had been in the treasure hunt longer than Abigail had, and that if anyone would stay in the car, it would be her. It was true that Riley showed no signs of a concussion or any injuries besides a lovely black eye, and there really was no reason to leave him in the car besides to keep him safe from whatever else fate would throw at them. But as was already stated, the young man would have none of it. All three of them had been searching the church and the graveyard for another clue for a considerable amount of time now.

"There has to be another clue. We're missing something," He looked at the ocular device, which Riley was fiddling with and wishing he could've seen the image on the Declaration of Independence.

"Maybe your father was right, and there is no treasure. Maybe the other clue was accidentally discovered already and is lost or was destroyed. Maybe we misinterpreted the clue. Maybe it's not even in Trinity Church." Abigail said glumly.

"It has to be real. It has to be here. We both know it's here because of the symbol on the map. But where…" Ben mused. He looked over at Riley, who was looking through the device and changing the colors of the glass.

"We've been all over the church and the graveyard, Ben. It isn't here," Abigail was saying, not noticing that Ben wasn't paying attention.

"Damn! There was more to it!" Ben growled. Abigail and Riley looked at him curiously; "There was more on the back of the Declaration! The different colors of glass give different messages!"

"And we don't have the Declaration," Abigail said softly. Ben was angry with himself. He should've guessed that there was more; he shouldn't have given the Declaration to Ian. _You would've kept the Declaration? _His cooler, reasonable side asked, _At the risk of your best friend's life?_ Ben realized that he would've done the same thing a million times over to protect Riley or Abigail. Ben could see the downcast expression on Riley's face; the younger man obviously blamed himself for this setback.

"It doesn't matter," Ben said, "We'll find the treasure with or without the Declaration. We just need to think as the Freemasons did, 200 years ago. Where would you hide a treasure that you didn't want anyone to find?"

"Underground," Riley said, remembering the stories of pirates and buried chests.

"They had nowhere else to put it, so we can use that," Ben assented.

"The clue said "Heere at the Wall" so we can guess that it's somewhere around here," Abigail added, "Could it be right under our feet?" Ben nodded.

"I think it's safe to assume that we're standing right over the treasure," He said, feeling giddy. They were so close and yet so far.

"It wouldn't be right below the surface, or they would've found it by now," Abigail said, shaking her head.

"There has to be a passage to it somewhere," Riley added.

"Then let's get to the lowest point of the church," Ben said, grinning, "The catacombs,"

Ironically, just as Ben, Abigail, and Riley left the Sanctuary of the church, Ian, Shaw and the other mutinied men entered. Ian, having hoped to run into Ben, was carrying the Declaration and had the Meerschaum pipe in one of his pockets.

"Damn, where is he?" Ian growled. He knew that Ben, Riley, and Dr. Chase were in here somewhere; their car was parked outside. He had to think like Ben. If he was looking for a giant treasure, where would he go…the only place to hide a treasure would be underground. Ian didn't think that there would be another clue leading somewhere else; the thought of it never crossed his mind, "We're going to the catacombs, men," Ian said, smiling to himself. By the end of the day, he'd be rich.

* * *

"What are we supposed to be looking for down here?" Riley asked, looking around the catacombs. There was just something about being surrounded by the skeletons of dead people that gave Riley the shivers.

"Honestly, Riley, I don't know. A trapdoor through the floor, a series of symbols, a segment of wall that looks fake, anything," Ben said with a sigh, investigating a grave marker.

"That narrows things down," Riley sighed, making for another part of the crypt. He stopped by a random marker, reading it wearily. _Parkington Lane_, he thought, _Sounds like a street. I'd hate to be named "Parkington"._ A voice broke him out of his reverie.

"We really have to stop meeting like this," Riley froze. _Not again…_He looked up to face Ian Howe, for the second time in the past day.

"I agree," Riley said, trying to put on a brave façade.

"This may sound cliched, but take me to your leader," Ian said, grinning maliciously. Riley gulped as he noted his other former comrades: Shaw, Phil, and Powell to name a few. He was terribly outnumbered again. There was only one thing to do; take Ian to Ben.

* * *

"Ben," Riley said, looking at his friend who was in deep conversation with Abigail over something on a gravestone.

"Riley, did you find anything?" Ben asked, not looking up.

"Unfortunately, I found several things," Ben looked up confused, but confusion turned to shock and anger when he found Ian, Shaw, and company right behind Riley.

"It appears that great minds think alike, Ben," Ian said, smiling. Ben gave no answer, sizing up the situation. Once again, Ian had Riley, but this time he had the Declaration too. There was only one thing to do.

"What do you want now, Ian?" Ben asked wearily.

"The same thing I've always wanted, Ben. The treasure. We both know it's here somewhere, and I can safely assume that you have the key to my lock," Ian said, using a sloppy metaphor for the Declaration and the ocular device, "How about we put the past behind us and do as we meant to do in the first place: work together to find the treasure? We have the old crew, with the addition of the lovely Dr. Chase. I'm getting tired of this game, Ben. We'll find the treasure, split it amongst ourselves, and go our own separate ways," Ben had no choice but to agree. He knew that the treasure had corrupted one of his former closest friends, and the "game", as Ian put it, had gotten too dirty for Ben's liking.

"Alright, Ian. We can wipe the slate clean," Ben said, despite knowing that neither he nor Ian would put the past behind them. Ben was still angry with Ian for kidnapping Riley and trying to kill them on the Charlotte, and Ian would still do whatever it took to get his hands on the treasure. What mattered now, though, was their safety. Ben, Abigail, and Riley were quite outnumbered, and Ian and co. had firearms.

"Good. So, Ben, what did you find at Independence Hall?" Ian asked, smiling.

"This," Ben said, pulling the ocular device out of his pocket, "It's to read the back of the Declaration of Independence. Ian pulled out the Declaration.

"Then I suppose it's good that I brought it, eh?" Ian asked, carefully unrolling it. Ben nodded stiffly. Chances were, Ian had the Meerschaum pipe on his person, also. Ben put on the glasses, seeing the original "Heere at the Wall" message. He adjusted the glass colors as he'd seen Riley do up in the Sanctuary.

"Parkington Lane…Beneath Parkington Lane," Ben read, and handed Ian the glasses.

"Incredible," Ian said softly, reading the inscriptions, "But why would they take us here, then lead us somewhere else?" he asked.

"It doesn't!" Riley said, grinning in spite of the predicament, "Parkington Lane is—I mean, **was** a man! I was looking at his grave marker when I ran into these guys,"

"Where?" Ben asked. Riley pointed down the hall. Ben carefully rolled up the Declaration and slung the case over his back. It was a small, but nice measure of comfort to know that he had the Declaration back in his possession.

Several moments later, the group of people were standing around the grave marker, "Parkington Lane, third degree master mason," Ben said, grinning. He had been right in assuming the treasure was right beneath the church.

"Look out!" someone cried as one of Ian's men swung a sledgehammer at the grave marker, and Ben's head. He jumped back just in time as the hammer shattered the grave marker with the ease of cracking an egg. The coffin inside was pulled out, and gave everyone a scare as the skeleton fell through the flimsy bottom. It was obvious that whomever built the coffin didn't expect anyone to pull it out of its resting-place 200 years later. However, it was worth it; Shaw pointed a flashlight into the grave, revealing a tunnel leading to the bowels of the earth.

"Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?" Riley said, unable to repress the quip.

"Right. McGregor, Viktor, you stay here. And if anyone comes back without me…well, use your imagination," Ian said, looking towards two of his men. Ben scowled. It meant, in essence, that they would have to protect Ian, or none of them would ever get out of the church alive. Already he was trying to formulate a plan for him, Riley, and Abigail to stay alive as long as possible. Ian looked towards him, smiling slightly and handing him a flashlight, "Shall we?" Ben hoisted himself into the tunnel, crawling along with the flashlight. He noticed that Ian had crawled in after him, followed by Shaw. After that, Ben had to concentrate on where he was going. It would be an interesting predicament if they ran into a dead end.

It was only a few feet before Ben arrived in a room where he could comfortably stand. Torches were hanging from the walls; Ben pulled one off and looked to the other men entering after him, "Got a light?" he asked, offering the torch. Ian produced a lighter, and several seconds later the torch was a mass of flames. Ben handed the flashlight to Shaw and led the way with the torch. He knew that they were the first people to enter the tunnel since the Masons had sealed it from the outside world and buried Parkington Lane to hide it. The torch was also more useful to burn away cobwebs spanning the path; it was getting irritating to get a face of old spider webs. After walking down a small flight of steps, Ben allowed Shaw and Ian to go before him.

"Careful," he said to Ian, truthfully. He wouldn't want to face Viktor and McGregor if Ian died and they returned to the surface without him. Ben didn't know what was at the end of the tunnel, but chances were it would be decayed and dangerous. As Riley passed, Ben put his hand on the younger man's shoulder, reassuring him and letting him know that he didn't blame Riley for everything that had gone wrong. Riley returned the gesture; he knew how dangerous it was but also knew that he could count on Ben to lead them through it. As Abigail passed, Ben grabbed her shoulder, "Come here," he said, pulling her into a kiss. There was a possibility that either, or both of them would die, and repressing his feelings for the "mean Declaration lady", as Riley had called her at the Gala, could mean that he'd never get to express them to her. She smiled as she went down the tunnel, followed by Ben. Powell, last in line, had witnessed the entire scene and sighed morosely.

"Why does that never happen to me?" he asked himself aloud.

The group wandered farther down the tunnel. It almost seemed like they were going to the Gates of Hell themselves.

"What's this?" Ian asked, from the front of the group. Although it was nearly impossible to see more than four feet in front of him, he could sense the immensity of the room he had just entered. He paused, allowing Ben to go before him with the torch. Ben strode boldly forward, noting that they had left the stone passageways and were now walking over wood; wood that had been destroyed by termites and rot for over 200 years. Gaping holes in the floor and ominous creaking sounds put Ben on edge and worried that going down there without any equipment was a bad idea. Ben reached the end of what could be a sort of balcony, and looked out over the edge. He couldn't see much behind or below a giant wooden chandelier.

"It's a chandelier," Ben said, in amazement. He wasn't intentionally voicing the obvious; he reasoned that he had said it for the benefit of his cohorts and captors. He looked for a point where he could set it alight, and upon finding it, he did so. In an impressive display of primitive pyrotechnics rigged by gunpowder, the three-tier chandelier burst forth into an amazing light source, allowing the group to see the giant labyrinth that they were in. He handed the torch to Ian and motioned to Riley.

"Here," he said, and with the younger man's help he undid the ropes binding the chandelier to the balcony and let it down, dangling in the middle of a vast ancient predecessor to the modern elevator. Tying it so it hung there, Ben and the others stared in amazement at the giant labyrinth of elevators and wooden walkways that the Templars had created over 200 years ago.

"Look at the elevators," Ben said, his voice layered in triumph and amazement. The treasure had to be here somewhere; wasn't this underground passage evidence of that?

"How do a bunch of guys with hand tools build all this?" Powell said, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"The same way they built the pyramids, and the Great Wall of China," Ben replied, his admiration for those that had gone before rising swiftly.

"Yeah…" Riley said, looking around, "Aliens helped them," Of course, everyone ignored this attempt at lightening the situation, and Riley decided that now was definitely not the time for quirky jokes.

"Right," said Ian, "Let's go," Ian, still holding the torch that Ben had handed them, headed down the wooden staircase first, Powell close behind him, "Careful," he added, testing each board before he put his full weight on it. If the Templars had built this 200 years ago, he was positive that one wrong step could send all of them plummeting to their doom. Behind Powell were Shaw, Ben, Riley, and Abigail. Abigail wished she had a torch or a flashlight to keep the semi-darkness from closing in behind her. Despite the fact that the chandelier made it easier to see, it was still unnerving to look back and see the wooden path vanish into the darkness.

The group slowly and carefully made their way along the passages, their heartbeats accelerated by the tension and fear of the dark abyss below them. The wood creaked and shifted under their weight, and each gave a silent prayer for safety regardless of how religious they were normally.

"We're right under the Trinity Graveyard, probably why nobody found this," Ben said. _Great, there's dead people on top of us_, Riley thought, suddenly imagining the ceiling opening up and a load of corpses and skeletons raining down on the group, smashing the passageway, sending them plummeting down into the chasm to die and remain there forever with the already dead, at least until some hapless clergy member or tourist noticed the demolished grave marker and the casket of Parkington Lane. He shook his head furiously to rid his mind of the haunting images. It would do no good to think that way down here.

A sudden, horrific rumbling sound, accompanied by the violent shaking of the entire underground passage made Riley jump and think that what he had been imagining was actually coming to pass. Dust and dirt rained down on them, and the earthquake slowly subsided. Every member of the group was silently surprised that they were not plummeting to their deaths.

"Subway," said Ian, in an unnaturally steady voice. Ben nodded, confirming Ian's statement. If the subway rattled the entire place that badly, it was a miracle it was still in relatively good shape, and it would be anther one if it remained in that condition long enough for them to find the treasure and return to the surface. It was several more seconds before the unnerving shaking of the wood had stopped and everyone was certain that it was safe to move on again. They were wrong.

Shaw had only taken two steps before the wooden path collapsed under him. He gave a scream as the image of Powell in front of him suddenly accelerated upward…or was it he who was plummeting downward? Time seemed to slow as he looked down, into the abyss, then up to see the stricken faces of the other members of the group looking down on him. That was when he started screaming. Shaw never lost the grip on his flashlight, even as the darkness swallowed him up and he could see no more above him. Nobody even heard the sound of his body smacking into the ground.

Abigail covered her mouth in horror. She had known all along that plummeting to one's doom was entirely feasible, but she hadn't expected it to actually happen. Somehow, Powell had ended up in front of Ian, though Ian did not remember moving. He looked up at Ben, speechless. After Ben, Shaw had been his closest friend on the original crew. It was almost like he was Ben, and it was Riley who had fallen to his death. The pain in his eyes was obvious. Ben looked away to Abigail, who was making soft sounds of distress.

It was at that terrible moment that the boards, weakened from the weight of the group and from the loss of supports from Shaw's fall, crashed again. Ian, who had been standing on a particular part of the ill-fated section of path, felt the ground fall out from under him and twisted around, grabbing a stronger section of the trail.

"Hang on!" Powell shouted, straining to be heard above the smashing and breaking of planks. On the other side of the hole, the trail had also began a steep fall. Abigail, who had been last in line, was away from the epicenter of the damage; Ben and Riley, however, were not. Ben, like Ian, had a death grip on Abigail's part of the passageway, and Riley was several feet below the two other men, dangling over the abyss and grabbing nothing more than one of the planks that had been holding their section of the path to the wall. His support creaked ominously, and Riley struggled to pull himself up. He gave a strained cry, hoping that someone would be able to help him before his grip failed and he ended up as Shaw did.

Powell, by this time, had a grip on Ian's wrist and was trying to pull the other man onto the safer section of planks, "I've gotchyou," Powell said, heaving Ian up. Ben was struggling to pull himself up the falling path, and Abigail, leaning over as far as she dared, extended her hand.

"Grab my hand!" she shouted, reaching for Ben. He grabbed it, and with her assistance, he got up onto the path. He promised himself never to underestimate the strength of the doctor. Ian had been fully rescued and was straining to get his breath back and to calm his racing heart; he had never been in such a horrifying and deadly predicament. However, his safety was not insured for long as the planks that he and Powell were standing on began to fall themselves. Not far away was one of the elevators, and Ian knew that the only way to save him and his friend was to jump for it. He wasn't sure if the elevator could handle two grown men leaping onto it from several feet away, but it was either not do anything and die, or try to save themselves and possibly die. He opted for the latter.

"Get on the elevator," he said to Powell, who gave him a nervous look, "Jump!" he said, half shoving Powell over. He gave a strangled yell as he leapt for the elevator, and to Ian's relief the old wooden structure did not plummet to the ground.

"It' s OK!" Powell said, and part of Ian sighed in relief. The rest of Ian, however, expertly tossed Powell the torch and leapt, just before the section collapsed into the crevasse.

Ben, meanwhile, had somehow managed to get Riley near enough so that he could grab his friend's hand. Luckily, Riley was small, lightweight, and easy to haul to safety. Once on the safe section of passage, Riley nearly collapsed onto the wood and rope banister that "protected" them from falling into the ravine. He was covered in sweat and his breath was coming in short, fast gasps; Ben was afraid that this on top of the injuries that Riley had already suffered could cause the young man to pass out.

"Ian," Ben said, looking down at Powell and Ian below him, "We can't go down this way. We'll leave, we'll come back with safety gear and an exploration crew,"

"No," said Ian, "We'll find the treasure. Now get in the elevator," He didn't mean to sound too harsh; Shaw was dead, and he, Ben, and Riley had all almost died.

"You saw what happened to Shaw," Ben said, trying to cajole Ian. It did the opposite. Ian's face contorted into a grotesque scowl, and he whipped out his gun.

"If you do not get into the elevator, Ben, I'll kill Dr. Chase and Riley right here, right now," he said, his voice a low snarl. He also produced the gun and took off the safety, telling the others that Ian's threat was not an empty one. Ben gulped. With the loss of his closest friend, Ian was dangerous and willing to do whatever it took to ensure that Shaw's death was not in vain.

"Ok, relax Ian," Ben said slowly, as the three of them moved towards the elevator. As he slowly cranked the elevator down, he didn't notice the frayed piece of rope growing nearer and nearer to the wheel controlling the speed of the elevator…

* * *

YES FOR NEW CLIFF-HANGER! I was going to go all the way through the shaft sequence right there, but I decided that it would make the chapter too long. I think this makes up for the short previous chapter, eh? I hope nobody hates me for cutting Patrick, but I never liked him very much to begin with. It's actually quite tricky writing the sequences without him…Anyway, please review and cheerio! Mmm…cheerios…_:drools:_


	6. Chapter 6

A/n-Ok, here's the second half of the shaft sequence. I'm not going to say too much about this one, because most of the important stuff was said last chapter. Silmirfo4077, if you kill Elladan, I WILL be forced to put terrible pain upon you! AND TO THE REST OF YOU, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT INJURING MY FAVORITE CSI OR LOTR CHARACTERS! _:snarls:_

Disclaimer-I don't own National Treasure, or Riley (poo), or anything else that I have stated in previous disclaimers. I also don't really know much about serious injuries besides the basic first aid stuff. I do, however, own the woman with the water bottle in chapter 2!

* * *

Ben slowly turned the crank, allowing the elevator to drift somewhat smoothly downward. He was surprised that the mechanism worked so well, having rested in the same place for two centuries. It was simple; a system of pulleys, levers, and counterweights; a primitive elevator. Even the ropes seemed to be in good condition. The key word was "seemed". The snap of a rope breaking would normally be a rather soft noise, but the acoustics in the room amplified it. Ben barely had time to see what had happened before the elevator plummeted downward, carrying him and his friends into the abyss. He screamed along with the other two, the sound swallowed by that of rushing air. 

Luckily, the elevators were better constructed than they had given credit. The brakes caught on a backup mechanism, and the elevator jerked to a stop, roughly sending the passengers to the floor and giving them several new bumps and bruises.

"Are you alright?" Ben asked, leaping to his feet and helping Abigail up. She held a hand to her head and winced, but deemed that it was nothing more than a bump. Riley, however, was slower to get to his feet and swayed slightly. Ben noticed this and shot a concerned look at Riley. However, the dizziness soon passed and Riley warded him off.

"We've got to get off this thing!" Abigail wailed, looking around for some extended platform that they could get on. There seemed to be nothing near enough and that they would be stuck dangling in the middle of a chasm until Ian and Powell decided to come rescue them.

"Excellent plan," Ben replied, resting for a moment and trying to return his heartbeat to a normal rhythm.

"Not that excellent," Riley added, for once dropping the optimistic, comic-relief attitude. That, if anything, was a sign that Riley was not well, and Ben gave him another anxious look. However, Riley did not catch the look; he was too busy judging the distance between the stuck elevator and a walkway that hugged the wall. Riley had always been good at math and with computers; it did not take him long to decide that he could make the jump, if he had a running start. He knew that Ben would never let him try to make it, and the opportune moment presented itself when Ben took off the Declaration, probably to hand it to Abigail. Riley adopted a runner's starting position and raced two steps before he leapt off into the gap.

"Hey!" Abigail cried, noticing his actions too late. Ben turned, just in time to see Riley achieve the opposite side and fall over, nearly rolling down the stairs. Riley gave a half-relieved, half-exhilarated whoop.

"Ow," he added, grabbing the wood supports for dear life when he realized how close he had been to falling down the stairs. Saying "Ow", however, was slightly verbose when one factored in everything Riley had been through in the past day, "That was easy," he finished, waving an arm to dispel the concerned looks on Ben and Abigail's faces. Ben grinned; it seemed that the optimistic Riley was back.

"Ok, you take this," Ben said, indicating the Declaration.

"Here," Riley replied, extending a hand to catch it. However, another ominous crash indicated that the elevator would have no more running and jumping around. Another of the ropes snapped, sending the entire contraption into a steep, 45° slope. This time, however, it was Abigail who found herself dangling above the abyss, with only a wooden beam stopping her from plummeting again. She gave a shriek as the elevator swayed dangerously. Ben offered her an arm, which she caught. He was stronger than the rotten board, at any rate.

As the elevator swayed, Ben realized that he no longer had the Declaration in his possession. He looked around fearfully, hoping that it hadn't fallen. If it had, there would be no way to retrieve it. He did not want to face the FBI without the Declaration. Luckily, it was still on the elevator. Unfortunately, it was precariously situated at the very edge of the platform, liable to roll off at the next swing.

"The Declaration," Abigail whispered, seeing it. She looked at Ben worriedly. Again, Ben was in a terrible situation: save Abigail, or save the Declaration? It gave him a terrible sense of déjà vu.

"Do you trust me?" he asked. Abigail found the question slightly inappropriate at the moment. She herself had a sense of déjà vu, but she knew Ben would make the same decision. It had turned out all right in the first place; there was no reason it would not turn out all right this time. She nodded, wondering what Ben was cooking up in that genius brain of his. The elevator swayed again, and to Abigail's surprise and terror, he let go of her hand. Maybe she had been wrong about Ben. She had thought that their kiss earlier had meant something. Riley was very lucky then, that Ben had decided that his life was worth more than a historical document.

Ben rolled over swiftly and grabbed the Declaration, right before it fell into the abyss, never to be seen again. He hoped Abigail would forgive him for dropping her.

Abigail was terribly surprised when she landed hard on a wooden extension. She had thought she would land with a sickening thud on the floor below, probably near Shaw. Her opinion of Ben returned to its original level. Ben cast a glance down at Abigail, who was rising to her feet with no apparent signs of injury. He intended to apologize, but another crash cut him off as the elevator jerked again, falling to an even more unforgiving angle. He nearly slid off, except for that at the last moment, he grasped the same board that Abigail had. _"If only there was someone left to save me," _Ben mused, knowing that it would be nearly impossible for him to escape this time. Riley and Abigail were too far away, and Ian and Powell were yet to do anything. Why would they now?

"Oh no, Ben!" Abigail cried, now ashamed that she had been questioning his priorities. She didn't want him to die because he saved her. She watched in horror as he struggled to pull himself back up. He couldn't pull off the same trick that he had with her; the elevator was not swaying far enough any longer, "Hang on!" she added, hoping that she could think of something she could do to help. She knew there was nothing, but saying it just made her feel slightly less guilty.

Ben could feel the nails straining against his weight; he could feel the board coming out. He knew it was now or never. If only there was something he could do…Salvation came in the form of a rope. It was probably the last thing he had expected, but also the best thing that could've happened. It was apparent that Ian needed him around a bit longer. Had it been Riley or Abigail in that situation, Ben was sure that Ian would've let them fall before lifting a finger to help. Especially now, as it was quite possible that Shaw's death had driven Ian off the deep end. Ben did swung over to one of the walkways, resisting the urge to let out a Tarzan yell of triumph that he had not fallen. Abigail was at his side in an instant, clutching the arm she had fallen on. The pain had just registered in her mind, which had been preoccupied with the danger.

"I'm sorry," Ben finally cried, "I'm sorry I—I dropped you, I had to save the Declaration…" Ben said, stumbling over words as he quickly scanned her for injuries. Besides the fact that she was holding her arm, she appeared fine.

"No, don't be. I would've done exactly the same thing to you," Abigail said, smiling slightly and knowing that she truly would've. Ben gave her a puzzled glance.

"Really?" He asked. "_She did work in the National Archives,"_ he rationalized. It still sounded odd coming out of her mouth though.

"I would've dropped you both," Riley said, breaking up any sort of intimate moment that could've happened then, "Freaks," he added under his breath. It was impossible not to notice the chemistry between the two. Neither Ben nor Abigail noticed that Riley was still slightly unsteady on his feet. The clacking sound of an elevator also intruded on them, signifying that Ian and Powell had decided to return.

"Get on," Ian said, not even inquiring as to their state of being. Either he knew already, or he did not care.

"Ian," Ben said, trying again to rationalize with the man, "It's just not worth it,"

"You imagine that your lives are any more valuable to me than Shaw's," Ian said. Ben was now positive that Ian had snapped. Though he did not seem to be speaking to Ben, however, the statement was more directed at Abigail and Riley. It was the surefire way to get Ben to do anything Ian willed, "We go on," he finished. Abigail sighed and shook her head exasperatedly. Ben exchanged dirty glares with Ian, until he remembered something his father had told him once about status quos. They were even right now; though Ian and Powell were outnumbered, they had firearms and Ben was the only one of the three who was still in perfect physical condition. He had to keep the status quo. He entered the elevator, closely followed by Riley and Abigail, though both were not happy about using the primitive and ancient mechanisms.

The elevator slowly descended to the end of the rope. There was a sturdy platform built there, and a rather large room that seemed better constructed than anything else in the chasm, "Now what?" Riley moaned. His head hurt, the dimness of the chasm made his eyes hurt, his feet hurt, and he was tired. He knew that if he let on that he was not feeling well Ben would force him to sit out on the adventure, and that truly was not an option. Not everyone got the opportunity to find a treasure that could change the course of history, and he was determined to offer whatever he could to the expedition. But even he knew he had limits, and he knew that he was dangerously close to them. Any more collapsing woodwork would probably push him too far. Ben tied up the elevator and pulled it close to the platform, giving everyone a much easier way to get off. Abigail handed Ben the torch.

"Ok," Ben said, stepping off the elevator, "Let's go," he motioned for everyone else to follow him. He burned away cobwebs and entered a room. He lit the other torches and looked around. The room was completely empty, except for a single lantern hanging in the middle. Ben walked slowly around, the disappointment obvious in his face. Powell lit the lantern

"What's this?" Riley asked, obviously confused.

"Where's the treasure?" Powell added, just as confused as Riley.

"Well?" Ian asked, determined to find his fortune. Ben gave a sad look.

"This is it?" Riley asked, incredulous, "We came all this way for a dead end?" He didn't add the last part; _"I was kidnapped, beaten, and nearly killed for this?" _For he did not blame Ben for his kidnapping; he blamed himself for letting himself be kidnapped. Ben looked as if he had a headache.

"Yes," he said, his voice low and disappointed. Ian made a disbelieving sound and turned away, running his fingers through his hair.

"There's got to be something more!" Riley added. _"Ben had to be bluffing, he had to! It was a plan to get Ian away!" _He thought, but the cold truth was rearing its ugly head, "Another clue…" Riley began. He was not happy about this, and was unintentionally taking it out on Ben.

"Riley there are no more clues!" Ben shouted, "That's it! It's over! End of the road! The treasure's gone, moved taken somewhere else!" Riley shrank back slightly. He had never seen Ben that angry, especially not with himself. Even when Riley had gone and gotten himself kidnapped and cost them the Declaration, Ben hadn't been angry. Ben noticed almost immediately that taking out his anger on Riley was a bad idea; the younger man was withdrawing into himself, probably to wallow in self-pity. He was not given the chance to apologize, either.

"You're not playing games with me, are you Ben?" Ian asked, moving forward, "You know where it is," Ben gave Ian a disbelieving glare.

"No," Ben said, shaking his head. Ian clearly had a dangerous look on his face. Ben knew he would achieve nothing by lying, however.

"Ok," Ian said. Ben thought for a moment that Ian was accepting Ben's statement. The next word, however, threw all rationale out the window, "Go,"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Ben cried, as Ian and Powell moved onto the elevator and shoved off, rising several feet away from the room in which he, Abigail, and Riley were standing.

"Hey, Ian wait!" Riley cried, shock registering in his eyes. He had a low opinion of Ian and Powell, but he hadn't thought that it would've ended so; he didn't think that Ian himself would be capable of killing someone. Riley had imagined that Ian would order someone like Shaw to do the nasty deed. But with Shaw gone, Ian truly must've gone off the proverbial "deep end".

"Ian, don't!" Abigail cut in. She also hadn't realized what Ian was capable of.

"Ian, we'll be trapped!" Riley finally stated the obvious.

"I know that, Riley," Ian sneered, "I can leave you here, and I will unless Ben tells me the next clue," The threat was very real, which made the prospect terrifying.

"There isn't another clue!" Abigail snapped, "Ben told you that already!"

"Ian, why don't you come back down here and we can talk through this together?" Riley asked, his voice quivering slightly. He had to try to be brave for his friends, otherwise he wouldn't have spoken up at all. He felt that at this point they had a low opinion of him; he had gotten himself kidnapped, cost them the Declaration, led Ian and company to Parkington Lane's grave marker…he felt it was his fault that Ian was trying to leave them in the empty room. And he had to try to get him, Abigail, and Ben out of this situation. He owed them that.

Ben risked a glance at Riley behind him. _What is he trying to do? Ian's to smart for that, and if Ian truly has lost it…_he refused to finish that thought. He looked back and tried to make his friend shut up, to no avail. Ian rolled his eyes, gave a very exasperated look, and did almost exactly what Ben expected him to do: yank out the gun, click of the safety, and point the barrel right at Riley.

"Don't speak again," Ian said, as if speaking to a young child. Riley paled and gulped visibly. How many times had he faced a gun today? The young man had lost count.

"Ok…" Riley whispered, mentally willing Ian to put away the gun.

"Ben, the clue. Where is the treasure?" Ian asked, though he seemed unsure of whom to point the gun at. On the Charlotte and at Independence Hall, Ben had proven that he cared more for the safety of others than his own safety. He would tell the next clue, for there surely was another clue, if Ian threatened the life of the lovely Dr. Chase or Riley. Abigail opened her mouth, probably to insist that there was no more clues, that the treasure had probably been moved, possibly before Charles Carroll had given the note to Thomas Gates, 200 years ago. Ian pulled the hammer of the gun. His patience was wearing thin.

"The lantern!" Ben finally blurted out. It wasn't only his life on the line any longer.

"Ben," Abigail said softly. She knew how badly it hurt Ben to practically hand the treasure over to the "bad guys", but it was something that had to be done. She knew that much about Ben's character. She knew that if it had only been him in the stone room, he would've been shot before giving up the treasure. But he would do anything to prevent any more harm coming to her or Riley.

"In King Solomon's temple, there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth," Ben began softly, but his voice grew stronger when Ian lowered the gun, "The lantern is the clue,"

"And what does it mean?" Ian asked. Ben's speech clearly went right over his head. It was something that he never would've figured out on his own.

"Boston. It's in Boston. The Old North Church, where Robert Newman once lit a lantern in the steeple, to signal to Paul Revere and William Dawes that the British were coming. One if by land, two if by sea," Ben said. At this, Abigail gave a very perplexed look. Luckily, Ian didn't catch it, "One lantern, under the winding staircase of the steeple, that's where we have to look," Ben finished, a self-satisfied look on his face. This confused Abigail even more. If he was giving the next clue away to Ian, why would Ben have that almost-concealed half-smirk on his face.

"Thank you," Ian said, and turned away.

"Wait, but you have to take us with you!" Abigail cried.

"Why, so you can escape in Boston? Besides, with you out of the picture, there's less baggage to carry," Ian sneered.

"What if we lied?" Ben asked, protesting fiercely. He didn't give up the entire clue about the lantern just to be left behind!

"Did you?" Ian asked, malicious interest glimmering in his eyes. He raised the gun again.

"What if there's another clue?" Abigail asked, covering for Ben.

"Then I'll know right where to find you," Ian said. Truthfully, that thought had never occurred to him. However, he knew that there was no way for Ben, Abigail, and Riley to get out once he left, "See ya, Ben," Ian finished. Powell took it as the cue it was. The elevator slowly clacked upward, and with it went the only way out of the pit.

"No!" shouted Ben, glaring up at Ian.

"There's no other way out!" Riley added, this fear overcoming that of being shot. At Riley's cry, Ian motioned Powell to stop.

"I thought I told you not to speak again," Ian said, and before any of the other three could protest, Ian raised his gun and fired.

* * *

MWAHAHAHA who left you with an EVIL CLIFFIE! Did Riley survive? Did Ian finally get him? Am I going to get beaten for this chapter? I can answer the last question: probably… 

OHMYGOSH OVER 100 REVIEWS! I FEEL SO HONORED! OMGWTFLOLAWOLRSPV! Thanks for all the support, y'all!

NITPICKING ALERT! In the movie, Patrick Gates says that Thomas Newton lit the lanterns in the Old North Church for Paul Revere. There are two issues with this: it was Robert Newman who lit the lanterns in the church, and both William Dawes and Paul Revere rode through the towns calling the men to arms against the British. See, I DO research my writing!

Now please press the pretty purple button and review!


	7. Chapter 7

A/n-Alrighty then, my faithful and very distraught reviewers, Anne is back! And she regrets to inform everyone that this is the last plot relevant chapter…Yup. You heard me. The last plot-relevant chapter. This means there will be an epilogue. It also means that there is a distinct possibility that Riley will not survive to see the light of day again…MWAHAHAHA!

Disclaimer-I don't own any recognizable characters except (you guessed it) the lady with the water bottle. If I did own National Treasure, this is probably how the movie would go, anyway.

* * *

The resonating bang of the gunfire was a sound that would haunt Ben for the rest of his life. He hadn't ever thought that Ian could actually shoot somebody. Every time, it had been Shaw who had been overly offensive. But when the sound of the gunfire echoed off the walls, the accompanying flash of light…it was too terrible for words. Time seemed to stop as Riley crumpled to the ground. Abigail screamed. 

"Riley!" Time sped up again as Ben found himself at his best friend's side, with no memory of ever moving. Abigail was standing above the two of them, her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide.

"Riley, can you hear me? Are you alright?" Ben asked. Riley cracked one eye open.

"…Hurts…" he moaned. One hand moved up to his shoulder, where a patch of red was growing on his shirt.

"It'll be alright, Riley," Ben said softly, "Just relax," He pulled the Declaration off his shoulder and handed it to Abigail before tearing a large strip of cloth off his shirt. Something clattered out of his pocked, though he paid it no attention. Unfortunately, Ben also had to somehow work Riley's shirt off to get access to the bullet wound. It was not an easy task, and it involved much tearing of clothes and several pained cries on Riley's account. Somehow or another, Ben managed to get access at the injury and applied pressure with the torn strip of his shirt.

"Ben, we have to get him to a hospital," Abigail said softly. She was trembling slightly; there was no way out of this hellhole, and Riley was going to die without treatment.

"I know," Ben said, his teeth gritted, "We're lucky Ian left, it'll be easier to get out without him,"

"But there's no way out!" Abigail cried. She could see the pained despair on Riley's face; it was the look of someone who knew he was going to die.

"Yes there is," Ben said, as calmly as one could be in his situation, "The first thing the builders would've done is created a second exit, for air and in case of cave-ins," Using Riley's discarded shirt, he wiped the sweat off both their faces, "Come on, Riley, stay with me," he added, noting that the younger man was struggling to stay conscious. He didn't know if Riley had sustained a concussion when he hit the ground, and currently Ben was in no position to find out.

"There's another way out?" Abigail asked. It dawned on her, "There were two lanterns in the Old North Church, the British came by sea. You fed him a fake clue!"

"Yes," Ben replied, "You see, Ian left us in an interesting and ironic position. The only way to save Riley is to find the treasure, because the treasure will be on the way out," He looked around at the walls, "And the way there is somewhere in this room. Abigail, please hold this and put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding," She moved to take the cloth from Ben, her forehead wrinkled in concern. If Ben was correct, everything would turn out alright. Riley would get to the hospital, they would find the treasure, and Ian would be arrested. But if Ben was wrong…?

"Through the All-Seeing Eye," Ben murmured, looking at one of the wall paintings. It was faded, but he knew what it was. He put his shoulder to the wall and pushed. To his surprise, there was a loud grinding sound and the panel moved, revealing a large dark space beyond the reach of the torch.

"Riley!" Abigail cried, patting the younger man's face lightly. Ben looked at her in alarm, "He's unconscious!" Ben nodded, worry shining in his eyes.

"Grab the torch and go in there. That's where we'll find the treasure, and the way out," Ben said, "I'll follow with Riley," He carefully picked up the younger man, as a parent carries a sleeping child to bed. Riley moaned softly and shifted, though he did not regain consciousness.

Abigail strode forward, trying to put on a brave façade. It wasn't that she was afraid of the darkness before her, but rather what she would find. And not dead bodies, either. She was quite sure there would be none of that. It was the prospect of not finding the way out, to be left forever by Ian to die of starvation, dehydration, or in Riley's case blood loss. Upon entering the room, she held the torch aloft and looked around. She stepped forward, allowing Ben and Riley into the room. But when she lit several of the other torches and saw the entirety of the room, something died within her.

"It's empty," she said, despair heavy in her voice. _We're all going to die…_

"It should be here…they would've put a second way out!" Ben whispered. Abigail had never thought she would hear hopelessness in Ben's voice. He carefully laid Riley out on the stone table in the middle of the room.

"I know, Ben. Ian will come back though, when he discovers that we lied. We can overtake him, and take the elevator out," Abigail said, at least attempting to be optimistic.

"Riley will be dead by then," Ben said, looking up at Abigail, "I never told him that I was sorry for yelling at him," Tears were brimming in his eyes, threatening to spill over, "I failed Riley, I failed you, I failed my grandfather, and my great-grandfather, and every other Gates,"

"No, you didn't. This entire place is at least proof that the treasure exists. And if we get out of this alive, we're going to keep searching for the treasure," Abigail protested, "I know that Riley trusted you, he'd follow you wherever you lead him. There has to be a way out, you said it yourself! It doesn't make sense!" With Abigail's words, Ben seemed to get a new heart.

"That's true, Abigail. There's a way out. We just have to find it," Ben said. Again, he resorted to the walls. There was something odd about one of them, "Look there, Abigail. Isn't there something missing?" Abigail moved to the wall. Indeed, there was a deep indentation on an ornamental disk.

"It would seem that way," she said, fingering it. She swapped places with Ben, continuing pressure on Riley's wound, as he moved to investigate the wall.

"Could it really be that simple?" he asked, "The secret lies with Charlotte," He reached into his pocket…to reveal nothing.

"What's wrong?" Abigail asked.

"I need the Meerschaum Pipe," Ben moaned, "Ian still has it," To his puzzlement, Abigail smiled.

"No, he doesn't!" she said. She reached into her own coat pocket and withdrew the Meerschaum Pipe, "It was in your pocket, but it fell out when you destroyed your shirt. I picked it up because it would've been a pity to lose it," she handed the pipe to him.

"Though, I have no idea how I ended up with the pipe," Ben said, snapping the stem of the pipe off. He didn't remember taking it from Ian. Ben carefully put the ornate bowl of the pipe into the indentation, and used the stem as a key to turn the circular engraving. Another grinding sound was heard as another wall moved, revealing yet again a dark space. Ben gave a devious look to Abigail, who grinned in spite of herself.

"The treasure!" she said. Ben nodded.

"You stay here with Riley, I'll go get help," Ben said, taking the torch. Abigail opened her mouth to protest, but knew that it was in Riley's best interest that someone stayed with him. Ben took a torch off the wall and vanished into the darkness. Abigail could only hope that he made it back in time.

* * *

Ben hated to "ruin the moment", but he wasted no time in hurrying into the newly discovered room. Though he had a limited range of vision with the torchlight, he knew instantly what he had found. The suggestive glints of light beyond the torch range gave him enough proof. It was the Templar treasure, the object that so many generations of Gates had searched for. It was the object of his dreams. He strode forward, his previous mission half forgotten in the amazement of it all. He noticed a long line of gunpowder extending into the darkness. Remembering his previous experience with the gunpowder barrels on the Charlotte, he dipped the torch into the vase. The fire immediately ate up the gunpowder, racing along the trail and illuminating the room. Ben was speechless. There was so much treasure…But what drew his attention first was the stairs. He nearly cheered aloud when he saw them. 

As he hurried for the stairs, he wished that Abigail and Riley could've been there with him. He could picture in his mind Abigail making a beeline for a rack of scrolls. _"Scrolls from the Library of Alexandria…but that's impossible!" _He could picture her saying. And Riley would probably be drawn to one of the statues: _"A large, greenish blue man, with a strange goatee that's probably significant somehow" _He would probably hug it too; it was such a Riley thing to do. And, of course, there were the stairs. He wasted no time in ascending them.

* * *

Back above ground, someone had finally noticed the desecration of Parkington Lane's tomb. As he inspected one of the skeletal hands and wondered who, or what would do such a thing, there was a thumping from behind a nearby tomb. The man's mind was flooded with images from every horror movie he had ever seen, with zombies and ghosts killing people. There was a crash as the stone erupted and a person came out. The man jumped, clutching the skeletal hand in fear. The man gave a half-apologetic grin. 

"Excuse me, do you have a cell phone? My best friend and my girlfriend are still down there, and one of them is badly wounded!"

* * *

Not even half an hour later, Ben was sitting within Trinity Church, above ground this time, holding the Declaration and watching the FBI agent make his way down the aisle. 

"Hello, Benjamin Gates," the FBI agent said, waving slightly, "My name is Agent Sadusky, and I understand you have recovered the Declaration of Independence?" Ben nodded as the detective took a seat next to him.

"Yes, but I did not steal it," Ben said, knowing that he didn't cut a very uncompromising figure. A large portion of his shirt was missing, he was covered in dirt and dust, and there were several bloodstains on his clothes.

"We heard from your father all about the Templar treasure, and I must admit it is a fairly far-fetched story. But how did you end up with the Declaration, if you did not steal it?" Agent Sadusky asked.

"Do you mind if I hold off on this story? My best friend is in the hospital undergoing surgery to remove a bullet," Ben said, offering Sadusky the Declaration. Sadusky sighed.

"I'm sorry, Ben, but this is an investigation. I'm sure you care about your friend, a Mr. Riley Poole I presume, but if you wish to remove any implications against yourself, Mr. Poole, and Dr. Abigail Chase, you should relate how you ended up with this important part of American history," It was Ben's turn to sigh, before quickly leaping into a series of events, careful to iterate that it was Ian who stole the Declaration, and how Ian had kidnapped Riley, shot him, and abandoned the three of them down below Trinity Church.

"It truly is an amazing story. I assume you found the treasure?" Sadusky asked. Ben nodded.

"It's about ten stories beneath your feet," he said, glancing down.

"Now then, I can't let you leave, under the pretenses that I have to arrest you," Sadusky said, shaking his head as Ben began to rise.

"But…" Ben began.

"However, you do happen to have in your hand one your greatest bargaining chip," Sadusky added. Ben shook his head, remembering how Ian had used Riley.

"Instead of an offer, how about a bribe? Say…ten billion dollars," Ben said. Sadusky smiled.

"You truly did find the treasure then," Sadusky replied. Ben nodded.

"I want all of this taken off Dr. Chase's record. Everything. She deserves to keep her job, and it was her doing her job that got her into this mess. Finder's credit goes to the entire Gates family, with the assistance of Riley Poole. And I do expect his hospital bill to be paid for," Ben said, half-smiling. If he knew Riley, the moment the young man regained consciousness he'd be clamoring for a way out of the hospital.

"And for you?" Sadusky asked.

"I really don't want to go to prison. I can't even begin to describe how much I don't want to go to prison," Ben said. Sadusky sighed.

"Somebody has to go to prison," Sadusky said. Ben smiled suddenly.

"If you have a helicopter, I can give you someone,"

* * *

Riley could've sworn someone was calling his name. The last thing he remembered was Abigail pressing the bloody cloth to his shoulder, looking very worried. Then there was a loud grinding sound…but that could've been just his imagination. They were still trapped down beneath the Trinity graveyard. 

"Riley?" the voice asked again. It sounded like Abigail.

"They caught Ian, Riley," a second voice said, "We found the treasure. I bought you a new car," Riley would've laughed. He was definitely in heaven if Ben had bought him a new car.

"He's waking up!" Abigail cried. Well, if there was a new car in the offer…

"Come on, Riley, that thing is beeping too fast for you to still be unconscious," Ben said. There it was again, that smug know-it-all-ness that Riley needed to beat somehow. Wait. If there were a beeping thing, he'd have to be in a hospital. To be in a hospital, that would have to mean that they had escaped the underground passageway. Maybe they had found the treasure! Maybe he did have a new car after all!

Abigail could've done a victory dance when she saw Riley's eyes open, "Riley, you probably have been sitting there pretending to be unconscious just to bask in how worried we were about you," she scolded. Riley grinned.

"Dude, where's my car?" he asked, attempting a joke. Abigail and Ben both grinned, though whether it was in humor or relief Riley wasn't sure.

"Still at the dealership," Ben replied, "I didn't think you'd want me to drive it home. At any rate, you won't be in any condition to drive until your shoulder heals," Riley grimaced at the memory.

"So, I assume you found the treasure?" Riley asked.

"All of it. And Ian and his cronies got arrested for kidnapping, several counts of attempted murder, and theft. Theft of the Declaration, that is," Abigail smiled.

"So, how soon are you going to spring me?" Riley asked. Abigail rolled her eyes, and Ben gave a half-smile. Riley was definitely back.

* * *

I think that was a good note to end it on. Next chapter; Riley leaves the hospital and is aquatinted with his Ferrari!

HYPE COMPELS YOU TO REVIEW! OR ELSE SHE'LL SMACK YOU WITH A FISH AND FORCE YOU TO DO HER ALGEBRA 3-4 HOMEWORK!


	8. Epilogue

A/n-Sniffle…it's all over…how terrible! Luckily, for you folks, I have an idea for a sequel I've been toying with for a while. We'll just have to see how it pans out…I'm slightly better at the "what-if" stuff, I think, than writing the original, but as a writer is his/her own worst critic, I think I'll let you figure that out for yourselves. When I post it, that is…

Disclaimer Haiku- Here's your disclaimer/I don't own the normal stuff/End of Disclaimer.

Boy, aren't I creative?

PS-GAAAH I'm so sorry, **Ye Olde Scooter Dude**. Everyone really CAN tell when it's 10pm on a school night, I should be doing math homework, and I'm not wearing my glasses. But that's enough excuses, I give you four barrels of cookies and a Riley clone to make up for it.

* * *

"So, you didn't buy me a car," Riley said dejectedly as Ben picked him up from the hospital in his Lincoln. Ben ignored Riley, staring skeptically at the younger man. 

"Are you sure you should be released?" Ben asked. Riley grinned. He had signed the release forms so fast the nurses were almost insulted. Riley wasn't sure why he hated hospitals so much, whether it was the gowns, the too-clean feeling, or that weird smell, but he had opted out as soon as humanly possible. Still, in Ben's opinion, he was a mess. The sling on his wounded arm didn't help appearances much, either.

"If they didn't let me sign the release forms, I would've broken free with the two pieces of string and the wire that I found in the jacket you brought me," Riley replied, as he got into Ben's car, "Seriously though, where's my car?"

"Technically, I haven't bought it yet," Ben answered ruefully, "But I did find the treasure and since the money we made from that is going to buying your car, I bought the car."

"But you haven't bought it yet," Riley huffed, in mock anger.

"I paid for the car, yes. It's still at the dealership though, and you can't have it until you're allowed to drive again," Riley struggled for several seconds on trying to figure out how to fold his arms in order to ignore Ben properly, but gave up when he realized that figuring out the tricky endeavor was more difficult that previously thought.

* * *

Riley was speechless when Ben pulled into the driveway of the new house, "And you only bought me a car?" he finally demanded, scowling at Ben. Ben smiled. 

"You know, I bought this house because in…" Riley cut him off.

"Yeah, someone in history did something and had fun. Right," Riley rolled his eyes. Ben grinned, "And what's that? Honestly, you and Abigail had too much fun spending your finders fee. I think all I got in this deal was a measly one percent. One percent of a one percent," The 'that' in question was a brand new, bright red Ferrari.

"I thought that was one percent of one percent," Ben said, musing slightly. Riley rolled his eyes as the car slowed to a stop.

"If you bought that thing, why did you come pick me up in this Lincoln?" Riley demanded.

"Because you don't like other people driving your car. You told me, remember?" Ben asked, grinning. Riley paused. _My car…?_

"You mean, that thing is…" he asked, looking from Ben to the Ferrari and back.

"I felt like I owed you. Your first car was shot up because of me, right? Just don't crash it, because you're buying the next one!" Ben laughed, stepping out of the car. Riley had stopped listening after the first three sentences, and was actually already in the car hunting for the keys.

"Ben, where did you put the keys to my car? You're not allowed to touch the keys to my car!" Riley was shouting. The ruckus caught Abigail's attention, and she watched the two men on the front lawn from the doorstep of the house. She dangled the Ferrari keys on one finger, wondering how long they'd be able to keep the keys from the younger man.

"I have them," she said, as Riley looked like he was about to beat up Ben, despite his injury and height disadvantage. Riley glared at her.

"Give me my keys," he said, scowling.

"Ah ah ah," Ben said, putting a hand on Riley's shoulder, "You're not allowed to drive yet, but I thought maybe you'd like to sit in it while you healed?" Riley grinned, he never could hold a grudge, and he knew quite well that he couldn't drive yet even if he wanted to.

"Give me my keys, please?" Riley pleaded. He pulled the 'puppy dog eyes'; he hoped that he at least could get his hands on the radio of his car. Abigail grinned and tossed them to Riley, who fumbled them in a one handed catch but somehow managed to hang on. Several moments later he was grinning like a loon and sitting in his car, though he had placed severe restrictions on who was allowed to ride in his car (nobody, as of yet), who was allowed to drive his car (him only), who was allowed to touch his car (nobody except him), and finally, that only he would possess the keys to his car. Ben grinned at Abigail.

"I told you he was possessive of his cars,"


End file.
